


Smells Like School Spirit

by javajunkie



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-23 03:04:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11394060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/javajunkie/pseuds/javajunkie
Summary: When Betty is locked out of her dorm room, she takes refuge in a fellow student's dorm room.  College AU.  Bughead.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a two-parter. Hope you enjoy!

Smells Like School Spirit:  Part I

Within her first week in college, Betty learned three very important lessons.  First, just because a dining hall is all-you-can-eat does not mean that you, in fact, need to eat all you can.  Second, the elevators will never come as quickly as you hope.  And third, don’t piss off your roommate unless you want to end up locked outside in nothing but a tiny towel.

Betty just learned that third one.  

She and her roommate had one of their usual disagreements and her roommate, in classic fashion, locked her out of the dorm room.  Betty knocked on the door irritably and said, “Nicole, are you in there?”  Betty heard shuffling behind the door.  “Nic, come on.  I’m in a towel here.”

“Yeah, she’s not going to let you in,” a girl from the couches said.  “From what I’ve heard, she’s the type to hold a grudge.”

Betty held her towel tighter against her frame, suddenly realizing how many people there were out on her floor.  Her shower caddy was slippery in her hand and she had a sudden terrifying vision of the caddy dropping and her towel falling as she scrambled to catch it.

Betty went to take refuge in the bathroom when she heard commotion at the end of the hallway.  Betty turned to look, only to have horror descend on her as she saw that her RA brought the school mascot - a large wolf with a head so large it looked about to topple over - up to the floor along with a smattering of the varsity football team.  Betty remembered that they had a game that night.  They came toward her, the voices loud and raucous.  The bathroom was located on the other side of them.  Behind her was only a fire escape and her currently unavailable room.  Her only way out was through the mascot and football team.  She clutched her towel with white knuckles.

Just as Betty went to step forward and meet her fate, a door to her right opened and a tall guy with jet black hair walked out.  His hair flopped down into his eyes and he brushed it away, looking between Betty, with her wet hair and towel, and the approaching school pep squad.  

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but do you want to come in here?” he asked.

Betty swallowed hard and nodded, scurrying into his room right before the group descended on her.  He closed the door and Betty stumbled to the side, suddenly extremely aware that she was inside of a stranger’s room in only a towel.  She could hear the raucous group just outside his door, and thought to herself that she wasn’t gong anywhere for a bit.  Her companion sensed just how odd the situation was and went over to his closet and pulled out a robe.

“You can put this on,” he said, handing it to her.  “I haven’t worn it.  My grandma got it for me as a going away gift, but as you can probably see, I’m not really the robe type.”

Betty smirked.  “Not really.  And I’m fine, thanks.”  Betty glanced down, realizing for the first time just how much of her legs were exposed under the short towel.  “Actually, on second thought.”

“Yeah, go ahead,” he said, turning around to give her privacy.  Betty made sure that he wasn’t peaking before quickly maneuvering herself into the robe and dropping her towel.  It was a soft Terry cloth that felt remarkably nice against her freshly scrubbed skin.  Betty paused for a moment before telling him that she was dressed.  He was still turned away like before, hands braced on the desk.  She craned her neck to see his face and saw that his eyes were squeezed shut.

“You can open your eyes now,” she said with a small grin.  “I’m all dressed.”

He turned around and blinked a bit before he said, “The robe looks nice.  I can finally tell my grandma it’s getting used.”

“Something tells me this isn’t what she had in mind.”

He laughed.  

“Anyway, thank you,” she said.  “You were a bit of a life saver out there.  My roommate’s mad at me so she locked me out of our room.  Which is bad enough without the school mascot suddenly appearing.”

“It’s unsettling isn’t it?”  he said. “I never liked mascots.  You don’t know who’s In there.  It creeps me out.”

Betty smirked.  “I’m Betty, by the way.”

“Jughead.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jughead.”

“So, what did you do?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“To get locked out of your room,” Jughead clarified.  

“Oh, I accidentally ate one of her yogurts.”

“Accidentally?”  Jughead deadpanned.

“Okay, maybe it wasn’t totally accidental,” Betty relented.  Jughead smirked and raised his eyebrows in question.  She continued with, “I was studying late and I was starving when I got back.  I was going to replace it, I swear.  But she saw it before I could buy more.”

“Your roommate locked you out of your room in a towel because of a cup of yogurt?”

“She’s very territorial with her dairy.”

The noise outside of the room grew distant as the crowd made their way down the hallway.  Jughead walked over and opened door a sliver.  He looked outside and said, “The coast is clear.”

“Step one,” Betty breathed out.  “Now I just need to get my roommate to open the door.”

“I have an idea,” Jughead said after a moment.  He went over to his mini-refrigerator and opened the door, pulling out a small carton of cottage cheese.  He handed it to Betty and said, “Tell her it’s a peace offering.”

Betty laughed.  “You really have everything in here.  Anyway, I should get going.”

Jughead rubbed the back of his neck and said, “Yeah, sure.”

“And I will bring you this back,” Betty said, tugging at the collar of his robe.  “After a proper washing.”

Jughead nodded with a grin.  “Sounds good.  It was nice meeting you, Betty.”

“You too, Jughead.”

She turned to leave, but hesitated and turned back.  “I’m in room 1718.  If you ever wanted to hang out.  Is that a weird thing to offer?  It’s weird, isn’t it?”

“You came in here wearing a towel.  I think we’re already at weird.”

She laughed, cheeks flushing.  “Yeah, I guess we are.”

“I’d like that, though.  The hanging out.”

Betty nodded, pressing her lips together to keep from smiling too wide.  “Great.  That’s great.  That’s…I’m going to leave now.”

Jughead laughed.  “Okay.  Bye Betty.”

At the end of the week, Betty returned his robe with a fresh carton of cottage cheese.  


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your sweet reviews! I hope you enjoy the final installment :)

Smells Like School Spirit:  Part II

Over the weeks following towel-gate, Betty and Jughead developed an easy friendship.  Betty discovered that he was also in the journalism program and had an overwhelming knowledge of Quentin Tarantino films.  Jughead learned that Betty had a knack for making coffee-mug-related sweets in the microwave, of which he openly took advantage.  They always made the mug cakes in her dorm room, Jughead claiming that her microwave made them better than this.  In reality, he just liked being in her space.  It was unabashedly her - at least her side of the room - and when he left at night his clothes smelled like her perfume.

Their friendship developed as they spent more time together, both inside and outside of the dorm.  They went to art openings and old movie screenings at the local drive-in.  Betty’s friend, Veronica, referred to him as her platonic boyfriend, and Betty laughed it off, even as she spent nights in his dorm room after _Chuck_ marathons, waking up to his arm tossed casually around her waist. He always apologized in the morning, sheepishly running fingers through his sleep mussed hair as she told him it was okay.  He stopped apologizing around the same time she started holding his arm against her waist, fingertips dancing against his skin.  

“You always do that,” he groggily noted one morning, lips brushing against her shoulder.  “It’s like you’re playing the piano on my arm.”

Betty grinned.  “I’m actually playing the violin.  Well, not the bowing part, obviously, but placing the notes on the fingerboard.”

He yawned wide and said, “I didn’t know you played violin.”

“I played all through high school,” she said.  “Since I was ten, actually.”

“Do you play now?”

“Sometimes,” she said.  “Not here.  I think Nicole would kill me.  But there are practice rooms over at Mundelein Hall open to the public.”

“Will you play for me someday?” he asked, voice playful.

Betty rolled onto her back to see him better.  “Not with that tone I won’t.”

Jughead laughed, leaning down to press a soft kiss on her mouth.  “So, what song are you playing on my arm?”

“Minuet in G,” Betty returned easily.  “It was my favorite.”

“Well, my arm is honored.” 

Neither of them discussed the shift in their relationship, each hesitant for their own reasons.  

“So, you’re dating,” Veronica said one afternoon, sitting with Betty at the local coffee shop.  They shared a pair of matching lattes.

“No, we’re…I don’t know what we are.”

“You should probably figure that out,” Veronica said.

Betty was mid-sip, and when she was finished set her coffee mug down on the table and asked, “Why?  We’re happy.  Isn’t that what matters?”

“You need lines, Betty,” Veronica spelled out.

“Excuse me?”

“Clear relationship lines.  Without them, people get hurt.”

“You’re wrong,” Betty said steadfastly.  “Whatever we have right now, it’s working.  Why mess with it?”

“Yeah, for now.  But that can’t last without you both understanding where you are,”  Veronica said, gazing over Betty’s shoulder.  “Okay, case and point, see that guy standing by the bathroom?”  Betty looked at her in confusion.  “The guy by the bathroom, B.”

Betty looked over her shoulder and spotted the guy.  “Okay, what about him?”

“Can you ask him out?”

Betty blinked rapidly.  “Do you mean literally?”

“I mean can _you_ ask him out?  With whatever is happening with you and Jughead, can you go over there and ask that guy out?”

“I don’t want to,”  Betty returned uncertainly.  

"That’s not the point,”  Veronica said.  “And if Jughead met someone, can he ask them out?”

“I guess, I don’t know.”

“And how would you feel if he did?”

Betty’s stomach churned uncomfortably.  “Well, this conversation has me feeling great.”

“Do you want to be with anyone else?”

“No,” Betty said immediately.

“Then you should tell him.  Otherwise, you may end up getting hurt.  You both could.”

* * *

With Veronica’s words in her ears, Betty returned to her dorm, going between her and Jughead’s room four times before she finally worked up the courage to knock on his door.  She heard some shuffling behind the door and then it opened, revealing a slight blonde girl.  She was wearing tiny jersey shorts and a slouchy sweatshirt.  Betty recognized it as one of Jughead’s.

“Hi,” Betty stammered.

“Hi,” the girl returned, leaning against the door frame as she crossed her tanned legs.  “Can I help you?”

“No,” Betty said immediately.  “I mean, yes.  I’m looking for Jughead.”

“Oh, he ran to get us some dinner,”  the girl said.  

Betty stared at her, the plurality of that “us” not lost on her.  Betty was in Jughead’s bed that morning, and now he was out getting dinner for himself and another girl.

“If you give me your name I can tell him that you stopped by,” she offered.

“No, that’s not necessary,”  Betty said quickly.  “Enjoy your dinner.”

Betty rushed over to her room, feeling tears flood her eyes as she thought of the girl waiting in Jughead’s room in her tiny shorts and his sweatshirt.  Veronica was right.  They needed lines.  If they had lines, this would have never happened, or at least Betty would have _known_ it would happen.  She thought they were on the same page, happy inside their little bubble that only included the two of them.  She was happy with only him.  Why couldn’t he be happy with only her?

* * *

Betty barely slept that night, unable to direct her thoughts away from Jughead and the tiny blonde.  Betty wasn’t someone who functioned well on little sleep, and when morning came, she was nearly as grumpy as her roommate.  She wandered down to the dining hall for breakfast, spotting Jughead at the bay of elevators with his sweatshirt pockets clearly bulging with contraband dining hall food.

Breakfast in bed.  How romantic.

She took out her frustration through piling her tray with everything in site, stuffing her stomach until it screamed in protest.  Too many plates of food and four cups of coffee later, Betty was back on her floor.  Somewhere between the omelette and donut, Betty decided to tell Jughead how she felt.  She knocked on his door loudly, feeling slightly nauseous and not knowing whether it was from what she was about to do or the heaping pile of hash brows.  Jughead answered the door.

“Betty, hey -”

“Are you alone?” she asked.

“Um, yeah.  I am.  What -”

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah, of course.”  

He stepped back and she walked into his room, immediately beginning to pace as she worked out her nervous energy.  Jughead closed the door and asked her warily, “Everything okay?”

“Yes,” she said.  “I mean, no.  No, everything is not okay.”

“Okay,” Jughead said slowly.  “Is it something you want to talk about?”

“I know you had a girl here,” Betty said.  “I saw her yesterday.  I actually came here to talk with you and she opened the door.”

“Shit, Betty-”

“No, I need to get this out.  Please.  I came here, and another girl answered the door, and I didn’t like it.  I really didn’t like it, Jug.  And I don’t blame you.  I really don’t.  We’ve never discussed what we are or the lines.  Veronica said we need to discuss lines, and she was right.  She was _absolutely_ right.”

“Lines?  What -”

“Maybe this is the four cups of coffee speaking, but I don’t want other girls to be in your room,” Betty continued, too far in to stop even for breath.  “I want it to be me.  Only me.  Because when I’m with you, I feel like…like I just ran a marathon.  You make me breathless and energized and everything a person should make you feel.  I want you and only you, Jug.  So..,” she trailed off, realizing that she didn’t quite know how to end her overture.  “…that’s all I have to say.”

Jughead stared at her.  “You had four cups of coffee?”

“That’s what you took from everything I said?”

Jughead smirked, walking toward her slowly.  “No, I got the other stuff, too.”  He slid his arms around her waist.  “I don’t want anyone else in my room, either.  And, for the record, there hasn’t been.”

“But, the girl -”

“Is my sister.  Jellybean.  She’s staying with me during her spring break.  Which I didn’t know before she showed up at my door last night.  I was going to introduce you guys today.”

“Your sister,” Betty breathed out, laughing a bit at the ridiculousness of it all.  “She’s your sister.”

“I haven’t wanted anyone else since the moment you hid in my room from that mascot.”

Betty tugged his mouth down to hers, pressing herself close to him as their mouths met.  Behind them, the door opened.

“Ugh, gross.”

The pair pulled apart, and Jughead looked back at his sister and said in a tight voice, “You have literally the worst timing.”

“You promised me we’d go to that bookstore,” she reminded him.  Her gaze moved over to Betty.  “Hi there.  I remember you.”

Betty blushed.  

“JB, this is Betty.”  He paused and added, “My girlfriend.”

Jellybean’s eyes lit with recognition at her name, and she said, "It’s about freaking time.  I’ve heard about you literally for months.  I was wondering when my brother would man up.”

Jughead gave her a look and said, “You know I can send you home early, right?”

“You guys go ahead,” Betty said.  

Jughead looked down at her.  “Are you sure?”

She nodded, smiling softly.  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Jughead gazed down at her, mouth curving up into a lax grin, and he said, “Jellybean, go outside.  I’ll be right there.”

“You’re going to make out, aren’t you?”

“JB-”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be outside.“

The door closed and Jughead turned to Betty, framing her face with his hands.  She reached up and wrapped her hands around his wrists, eyes drifting closed as he pressed his lips against hers.  He kept the kiss light, lips feathering over hers.  Betty deepened the kiss, leaning into him.  Jughead pulled away with a slight groan and murmured, “Are you sure you want me to go?”

“I’ll be here when you get back,” she promised.  “And I mean that quite literally. Nicole is mad at me again about my alarm.”

Jughead laughed and pressed a kiss against her forehead.  “Stay here as long as you want.”

* * *

A few hours later, Betty’s phone was near dead and she walked over to Jughead’s desk to find his charging cord.  She thought that he kept it in one of the drawers, and pulled them open casually as she searched for the cord.  She pulled open a drawer and paused when she saw a familiar lid peaking out underneath a laptop user manual.  She pushed the manual aside and her heart quickened when she saw that he’d kept the emptied container of cottage cheese she gave him all those months ago, when things were new and neither of them knew what they’d become.  She returned the manual back to its prior place and closed the drawer, smiling to herself.  

Later on, she’d say that it was in that moment she knew that she loved him.  It took her another few months to realize it.  Another few months to tell him.  He said it back the first time, not needing time like she’d been afraid he’d need.  He consistently surpassed her expectations, making her wonder each time why she ever expected otherwise.  Five years to the date from when they first met, Jughead proposed and Betty said yes.

They invited the mascot to the wedding.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll post Part II sometime tomorrow!


End file.
